Mediumship and Spiritual Connections with Kathy Reese

In this episode of Closer to Venus, host Johnny Burke interviews Kathy Reese, an elementary school teacher and evidential medium. Kathy shares her experiences and which began in her late forties. She discusses her initial fear of her dreams and spiritual senses, her evolution into understanding and using her mediumship skills, and how writing became a conduit for messages from the other side. Kathy emphasizes the importance of normalizing spiritual connections and mediumship, alongside her work with an Akashic Records reader. Through various examples of evidential readings, Kathy illustrates how messages from spirits can bring healing, peace, and resolution. She also delves into misconceptions about mediumship and the spirit world, advocating for a broader understanding of life beyond death. Tune in to learn more about Kathy’s work and her insights into spiritual evolution and the ongoing nature of consciousness.

00:00 Introduction to Kathy Reese

00:53 Discovering Mediumship Skills

02:33 Messages from the Other Side

05:47 Evidential Readings and Their Impact

10:23 Working with an Akashic Records Reader

13:50 Misconceptions About Mediumship

16:13 Physical Mediumship Experiences

19:49 The Continuation of Consciousness

 between2mediums.com

Transcript

Johnny Burke: Welcome to Closer to Venus. I'm Johnny Burke. Today's guest is Kathy Reese. She's an elementary school teacher and an evidential medium. She's also the co-founder of  between2mediums.com and YouTube channel of the same name. Her readings bring forth messages from the other side as well as verifiable evidence of who they were in life. In this episode, we'll talk about her goal to normalize spiritual connections, make mediumship acceptable and confirm a deeper truth; life continues beyond this one, and we are never really alone. Kathy, welcome to the program.

Kathy Reese: Hi. Thanks for having me.

Johnny Burke: I don't think we've met any elementary school teachers who are  evidential mediums, but I'm sure there's probably plenty lurking in in their spiritual closets.

Kathy Reese: We kind of keep it quiet because of misconceptions.

Johnny Burke: How did you first notice the skills, the mediumship skills?

Kathy Reese: I first identified it  as mediumship skills in my very late forties, early fifties. That's when I actually put a name to what was going on. But I can tell you that this all started back as a child where I didn't understand what was going on. So I had these horrific dreams, very scary dreams, and every dream had the same recurring character.

So then also I always felt like off to my side, out right outside of my peripheral vision. I always had somebody there. So as a young child feeling like, I could always sense something here.I was early in my marriage still having these dreams. Actually, I had both my children still having this sense and not knowing what it was.

It wasn't until I went to an acupuncturist for the first time.He asked me about my dreams, and I would not talk to him about it. So he picked up on something that there was something there to try to get out of me and I would not

He also had dreams. Completely different reason. He was a Vietnam vetbut he told me how he managed his dreams and Johnny, from that moment, I knew I would never have another dream. He made me go from fear to curiosity. So then I became curious about this and I wanted to have another dream at that point, and it led me to reading about it and , learning more.

Over the years it has just evolved. And it's amazing when I look back at this path that I was on, and I didn't even know I was on it. 

Johnny Burke: All right, At one point did you start getting messages from the other side? Was that from childhood or

Kathy Reese: No, not in childhood.  In childhood,  I was fearful. I didn't want to think about it.I think when I really noticed my intuition and started paying attention to my intuition, I do think we all have it right?

Johnny Burke: That's what I've been told.

Kathy Reese: Yeah,for sure. But I started paying attention to it a little bit more, and I'm telling you; it was my late forties.So I think really listening to my intuition has really opened the door to me really getting these messages. And then I started writing

Johnny Burke: When you were writing these things, were you aware of what you were writing or was it more like a scribe for spirit type thing?

Kathy Reese: I did not, that's when I thought I was kind of losing my mind a little bit. I actually felt an urge in my arm. I had to sit and write and things just came out that I thought must be for other people

Johnny Burke: The automatic writing thing does come up. It is the type of thing where you either feel an urge is what I'm told, or at sometimes you just start writing and you wake up the next day and you don't even recognize it. But it was obviously your hand. A woman I interviewed a while back called herself a scribe it for spirit, and since then I've heard this come up a number of times. 

Kathy Reese: I think it’s an easier way to startto try to tap into whatever you're tapping into, whether it's evidential mediumship or just hearing messages from your true self, I highly recommend it to anybody. It’s actually a great strategy for just managing stress and anxiety, but  it did evolve into messages. It did evolve into something more than just random writing.

Johnny Burke: You recommend this for a lot of people becauseit's a good way to manage stress. So were you talking about the mediumship skills, or being a sitter at a mediumship reading?

Kathy Reese: My mediumship skills. However, I do think writing is a great way for everybody. It's a tool for everybody,but for me it was for my mediumship 

Johnny Burke: Okay. Now the messages that you get - are these auditory, is it telepathic, how did they come through?

Kathy Reese: It's really using all your senses, but for me, I see things clairvoyantly. I don't believe I am actually seeing the actual person or item that they want me to see. I think they're putting images in my mind to get me to say things. I could see a pair of wingtip shoes and fancy socks. So I can then describe, oh, this person was a sharp dresser, and hehad a unique style to him. 

Johnny Burke: From what I'm told, it's like you just said, it's images and things like that.A quick example would be a friend of mine,whose mom passed, I believe she was in her nineties, the medium brought up something like, I'm feeling pain in my leg. And his mom had a real issue with one of her legs.That's a good example of how these things come up. 

Kathy Reese: I think that’s common- you can feel sometimes congestion in your chest, or you start coughing. Yeah.

Johnny Burke: Can you give us an example of an evidential reading that you've had?

Kathy Reese:Sure.I just hada recent one that to me was so incredibly cool. So  I sat with this woman who wanted to hear from her mother. Now,I  set my intention to bring to her mother, but understand that it's whomever comes through first is what we do and when you go into reading, spirit has their own plan. Loved ones coming through have their own plan.

 I'm bringing in through evidence though of her grandmother.And so I bring through enough evidence of, well, that's my grandmother,not my mom. I'm like, okay, well, can we continue with your grandmother for a little bit?

And she was very close to her grandmother. And this grandmother had all the feels like, I could feel this intense close relationship. It wasn't just a relative. This was somebody that was very intimate with this woman, and  very loving towards her. The grandmother that came through said her message was, I'm here to hold your hand for this thing that's going to be a little bit difficult. So I'm saying this, but i, I even stopped and said, “I have no idea what she's talking about. “I’m not feeling anything difficult, but I literally could feel like I needed to hold this girl's hand.

So then in steps a gentleman, so now I'm like, okay, so I have this gentleman here and he feels very sorrowful. I went into how he passed at a premature age. It was avoidable. It wasa lack of care of himself and making not good choices. And thenhe acknowledged how it left her feeling so vulnerable growing up. And that his selfishness left her feeling inadequate, and it was about the ownership that he took that he's voicing to her that he owned it. It was his issue, had nothing to do with her value and how he missed out on the opportunity to have her in his life, the way he could have had her.

 It was a very somber reading, very heartfelt and tearful on the sitter's, behalf. But she was able to take all the information and I just felt like it was such a sincere acknowledgement from him that I could have done better, I should have done better. And the acknowledgement of how that negatively affected her self-worth.

Johnny Burke: Who was the gentleman?

Kathy Reese: It was her father. And she said she acknowledged all that and he said what he needed to say and it kind of felt done and in stepped her mother. She was a hoot! She was such a different energy and so bubbly and mama bear protective over this girl and everything. I bring that reading up because I thought that was very clever of the people coming through. The grandmother r knew that dad was going to come through  for healing purposes. I think this girl needed to hear some  acknowledgement on his end, and I think it was healing for the woman sitting in front of me. And then the mother came through.

Johnny Burke: That example you just gave us ;is that what you mean by these messages that come through help us evolve? Is it the healing? is it resolution? What exactly is it?

Kathy Reese: I think it's everything. It's healing and resolution. I think it can bring a sense of peace hearing these messages. I don't know how it would affect the sitter, but the feedback is that I get often is I didn't know I needed that, or I wanted to hear from this person, but, it made me feel better to know that they are at peace. 

I think it's the potential to bring peace and forgiveness. I also feel like it can actually further a relationship. It can acknowledge what they had and see that it's still there. That relationship is still there.

Johnny Burke: Now, when you say that these readings, the messages help us evolve,the entity that's coming through? They have no real motive to be disingenuousIt's usually a message that can help or resolve something or bring healing or bring peace.

Kathy Reese: A hundred percent.I think that's the intention is for the highest good of whoever is sitting there in front of them what they need to hear.

Johnny Burke: All right.

Kathy Reese: I think it's for healing

Johnny Burke: Okay, good, Now you also work with another medium - actually an Akashic Records reader. That’s an interesting combination. So how is the dynamic of working with someone who reads the Akashic records as opposed to just working by yourself? 

Kathy Reese: Well, I think it sort of goes back to the purpose of us trying to normalize this. We're just two normal people. And these are two, just two ways in which you can engage withspirit. So I think the demonstration of the Akashic records, which is different than evidential mediumship, brings to the people sitting in front of us who come to our events. It gives them  a sampling of what is possible.There's lots of different healing modalities. I think people normally think of mediumship, or they think of reiki, or they think of other ways people connect. We're trying to normalize it. So bringing an Akashic record reading in with an evidential medium reading is our way to demonstrate that there's simple ways that we can connect easilyand it doesn't take crystal balls and.

Johnny Burke: Okay. 

Crystal balls. Okay. Yeah ,that does work for some people. When you work with this woman who's an Akashic Records reader, in my experience in that modality sometimes ancestral beings and even past lives come up, does that ever come up when you two work together?

Kathy Reese: Oh sure. When she does her readings, that comes up and that's the nature of, I think of Akashic Records. When you open it up,it's a collective source that comes together. It's less about who is delivering the message. It's about what the message is. And you can ask questions with Akashic Records too;

not yes and no questions, but you could ask like, what do I need to know from my highest good? Or what from my past life is affecting me and my current life? And so we wait and see what the messages are for that. So Akashic Record readingcompliments what I do I think, because I'm strictly just bringing through loved ones. That's a little bit deeper.It’s quite an amazing experience to get an Akashic record reading and to watch somebody do the Akashic record reading. 

Johnny Burke: You brought up something  earlier in one of your examples where the message, you didn't seem to know what it was, but in some cases,weeks or months later, the sitter comes back to the medium, calls them, whatever, and says, Hey, I know what you meant by the blue dress, for instance  So that's even more  important because you're not just picking stuff  out of the air and trying to make some sense with it. 

Kathy Reese: Correct, but in an evidential mediumship reading, you do want to get most of your evidence the sitter will understand what it is at that time. You don't want to keep throwing out things and saying, oh, down the road you'll understand. Because the point of the medium coming through is to bring a message and messages typically are not evidential. Messages are a little bit broader.

So yes, that happens where they come back and say, we couldn't understand this and now I do. But you want most of your reading to be something that they can understand in the moment.

Johnny Burke: Well, I think in that example, neither one of you know what it is, and the sitter will hopefully remember and then have an aha moment later on and think, oh, I know what this person meant by that. So I think that's definitely valuable. So what are some of the misconceptions about mediums and for that matter, the spirit world?

Kathy Reese: The people,the spirit coming through, they don't know everything. They just know from a whole different perspective. They're just able to look at their life without the human constraints. And so that's why their perspective broadens. I don't think they know the answers to everything.I'm going to be bringing through evil spirits or they're going to be staying with me after the reading. That doesn't happen. It doesn't happen for me. I don't ask for that. 

I also think heaven, the idea of heaven beinga separate place, like it's a geographical location. My experience tells me this, so not 

heaven is right here with us.

Johnny Burke: You took the words right out of my mouth because that's what I've heard. And which goes hand in hand with, we are never truly alone.’ Every time I've asked a medium aboutour friends and family when they pass, where they go, and every single one says they're probably right here next to you. It's in a different frequency 'cause everything's about frequency anyway. We can't see them. With the spirit world specifically, what has your practice and your experience taught you about it? 

Kathy Reese: Oh, peace. I think peace,I think my mediumship skills, learning this and understanding that I still don't understand how large this is, like there is something much more than just us in our world here. I'm not even sure how to answer that question. What has it taught me? I feel like I worry less.

Kathy Reese:Death is a misconception. I think our bodies die, but we do not. We move out of our bodies, but we are still the same person that we were. We still had the same mistakes. We carry the same love.I'm not afraid of dying anymore. Am I sad when people die? A hundred percent. I think it's worse for those of us that are still here, but I know they are fine. They are continuing on, they are still around. We just can't understand how that all can be. I just feel like, don't try to understand it, just enjoy the trust that it is.

Johnny Burke: Good point. now you've hadphysical mediumship experiences 

Kathy Reese: Yes. 

Johnny Burke: That could be kind of scary, what is that like?

Kathy Reese: It's utterly jaw dropping. I've been with other mediums, and we had the intention of seeing what happens. I had never had a physical mediumship experience until I did, and you're blown away. And we have to remember that this is intelligence. These were people who were here. They have intelligence even when they pass, they can communicate with us. They have energy, they take our energy, and they can move things.

Physical mediumship though, I’ve seen a physical body. I looked over and you see it, and you don't see it at the same time. But because it’s not a solid body. And we have the kind of understanding that with other mediums that unless we all see it, it didn't happen. But we also can't say, oh my gosh. Do you see that person standing over there or sitting in that chair?

It's usually we say, oh, look over in,in the corner. And then if we all end up seeing the same thing, then we all see it. 

Johnny Burke: Really good point. Because you're nottempting anyone to say oh yeah, I see that too. You just say, go look in the corner. Go look behind you, or whatever.  

Kathy Reese: and I think with physical mediumship, it's with the intention. You want them to engage. You set the environment for them to engage, which is happiness and joy and high energy. It is not somber. You don't have to sitin a seance kind of fashion. It's happiness and joy. It brings up your energy. It helps them grab, use our energy to be able to manipulate whatever happens. I've seen a table fly up in the air on its own.

Johnny Burke: Wow. So you mentioned something about intelligence. These spirits that come through, you think they have the sameattitude, sensibilities when they were here on earth? 

Kathy Reese:For sure- they cuss, there are people that are very humorous. There are people who were depressed here, but they're not depressed now. Yes, I get cussing. I don't normally cuss a whole lot but boy, the F word can fly out of your mouth when you're doing a reading and, but that's a piece of evidence.The humor, the jokester, 

Johnny Burke: The jokesters?

Kathy Reese: Oh my gosh.I had a reading where I did, this lady's husband came through and he was a little dirty gerdy, he was playful, but it was -do I say this out loud? I just say, do you understand that he was very playful and they're very much the same personality. I think though they're more evolved so they may have a better a better understanding of themselves.

Johnny Burke:. Can you imagine a world where mediumship readings and Akashic Record readings and shamanic journeys and things of that nature are actually normalized? 

Kathy Reese: Honestly, I feel like we have to stop thinking that we know everything and that there are edges to our knowledge.Everything in our world is identified. It has a name and that puts an edge to it. I think if we stopped thinking like that or took a second and thought, what if this was possible? What if there is more to me than my job and my role in this world, I think it's going to take that moment of being open to something even though you don't know what it is. I think it's going to take that,and some people are going to be ready for that, and some people aren't. 

Johnny Burke: The single most important thing that this whole journey, has taught you, is it we're never alone, or is it that consciousness,our souls, our essence  keeps going?

Kathy Reese: I think it's more of consciousness keeps going, but defining  what does keep going mean.We continue to live beyond what we call death here. We've completely continue to evolve, and I think that is the most beautiful, most exciting, most comforting thing to know is that even though we don't understand, it's not defined after life is not defined for us, but it is there. And I don't think we're meant to understand it. I don't think we have the capability, and I think that is the most beautiful thing about doing this.

Johnny Burke: I would think so. As John Lennon said, I don't believe in death. It is just like getting out of one car and into another.  Kathy, thanks so much for joining us tonight. in the meantime, how can our listeners find you online? 

Kathy Reese: you can find me kathyreesemedium.com or between2mediums.com.